Christmas Dog

On Saturday, December 27th we went to the Humane Society and added a new member to our family. We found a great Australian Cattle Dog. He is 2 1/2 years old and just as sweet as can be. As many of my close friends know a year ago we had to put down the dog that Chad and I got right after we were married. Well I have been talking to Chad about getting another dog for quite a while and he finally caved. Lucky is the new dog and he is about 26 pounds. He and Ernie seem to be getting along very well. I know that I am very happy to have two dogs in the house again.

If I don't get updated with other Christmas pictures before the New Year, Please have a safe and Happy New Years Eve.

Happy New Year.

As promised...

 

Dallas Game Photo. Can you believe that we were three rows from the last row in the stadium? I love my camera!

This next picture is from the 3A State Championship Football Game. Our nephew is number 70.



Chad is so proud that our nephew is number 70, since that was his number when he played Football at Conway Springs.

Thanksgiving

Well, I just wanted to update everyone on our Holiday plans. I surprised my husband with tickets to the Dallas Cowboys Game on Thanksgiving Day. Needless to say he was completely stoked to go. We decided to drive most of the way to Dallas Wednesday evening. The plan was that we were going to sleep in and head to the stadium whenever that morning since the game was not until 3pm. Well, my husband does not sleep in, he was up by 8am. I think he was excited to go to the game. It was a good game and a great time. I took tons of pictures (I will post a couple tomorrow night). We did go ahead and drive home that night. Chad had to work at the Christmas tree farm Friday.

Saturday we went to Hutchinson to watch the 3A state football game. Our oldest nephew was playing and boy was that a great game to watch. You bet I took even more pictures there. We are very proud of our nephew and the Conway Springs Cardinals for the win. The boys played hard.

Today my parents and I headed out the Windy Knoll Christmas Tree Farm. Chad was working, but he had time to help us look for trees for both houses. This was a big deal for our family since we have been going to Prairie Pines since 1981 and this is the first time that we have gone anywhere else, even though Chad has worked at Windy Knoll for the last three years. Windy knoll does something really neat, they allow you to tag a tree and come out later and cut it down. We don't usually go until about the week before Christmas and most of the great trees are really picked over. So now all we have to do is go back whatever day we want to get the trees and cut it down and take them home.

I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday. Thanks for stopping in. I promise to get pictures up tomorrow night.

Tagged

TOP 8 TV SHOWS
1. One Tree Hill
2. Dancing with the stars
3. CSI
4. ER
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. Brothers & sisters
7. Desperate Housewives
8. Extreme Home Makeover

TOP 8 RESTAURANTS
1. On The Border
2. Old Chicago
3. Texas Roadhouse
4. Panera
5. Jason's Deli
6. El Chico (which is not here anymore)
7. McAllister's
8. Cinnamon's deli

WHAT ARE 8 THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED THIS WEEK?
1. Went to a friend from college's wedding
2. Went to see Quantam of Solace
3. Got a pedicure today
4. training my new hr assistant
5. Strong Kids kickoff event
6. Budget meetings
7. Worked late
8. Got to see my godson and his brother

WHAT ARE 8 THINGS YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO?
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas (my favorite holiday)
3. Going to the tree farm
4. Family time
5. hanging out with friends
6. Football season to be over
7. Time with my nephews
8. Book Club next month

WHAT ARE 8 THINGS YOU LOVE ABOUT FALL?
1. "Sweater weather"
2. Beautiful trees and leaves on the ground
3. time with family
4. Christmas lights
5. Soups
6. love going to the pumpkin patch
7. Snuggling at homes
8. Nephews birthdays


Now I am tagging JoEtta and Toni.

Crop Camp

 

 

I hope that everyone had a great weekend. I know that I did. I went to Crop Camp at Camp Horizon in Ark City for the weekend. I had a lot of fun and in the process got about 21 pages completed. I spent most of last week getting organized and then I left Friday afternoon and came home on Sunday. The only thing that I would change next time is to take Friday off and go earlier. The pages above is one layout that I got done. I have to say that I think this layout is one my favorite from this weekend. The pictures were taken early in the summer. No the little boy is not ours. My best friend thought that it would be fun for us to have pictures taken with her son, our godson. Her idea was to have the John Deere theme since Chad works for John Deere and Zach has developed an infatuation with the green and yellow tractors.

I will post more pictures later this week. I have to save some pictures so that I will have something to post later.
Have a great rest of the week. Thank you for checking in on me. Hugs~

Dolphin Watching and Tampa

 

Well Saturday morning started with Chad finishing his training. I picked him up in the field and we headed for John's Pass and Hubbard Marina. When I talked with Chad about doing a dolphin watching tour he mentioned that he would like to do that as well. I knew that he would not have time in Sarasota so I started looking into the Tampa area. As it turns out Hubbard's marina is a little over half way to Tampa from Sarasota. This was the thing to do Saturday afternoon. As a bonus we were able to go to Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co. Chad originally talked about just getting a burger and I reminded him that why not get seafood when you are by the water, since it is going to taste much better than at home and I don't even eat seafood. We had a good time. After lunch we went walking around the marina taking a look at all the shops and just taking in the scenes.

 

Our dolphin watching tour started at 3pm. No sooner had the boat pulled out of the slip did we see a group of about 3 or 4 dolphins. We watched thosed for a little bit and of course I missed the picture when the dolphin decided to jump out of the water. We probably saw anywhere from 15-25 dolphins yesterday. I would say it was worth the time that we spent on the boat. It was a fun time and the employees of Hubbard's marina were wonderful to work with.

 

While on the dolphin watching tour we also got to see these beautiful bird rookeries. These little islands are filled with Mangrove trees and the birds love to nest here. This picture is of just a few of the pelicans on this little island.

After we left John's pass we headed to find the hotel for the night. I found out that we were not far from a Cheesecake Factory so that is where we decided to eat dinner. Then it was walking around the mall for a little bit letting our food settle and then back to the hotel to pack and get some rest.

We are ready to get back home. We have just a couple more hours here in the Atlanta airport then we should be home late this afternoon. I hope that everyone has had a great weekend. Thanks for peeking in.

Sarasota, FL

 

I have been in Sarasota since Wednesday and spent money at two scrapbook stores. I found some really cool stuff. Remember all those Bo-bunny word books, well I found tons of those types of books even one that says "DISNEY". I just could not leave that one on the shelf. I do know where we can buy more even custom words. Yesterday my Great Aunt and I went on Mote Aquariums Ecotour in hopes of seeing dolphins and learning a bit of information. It was really neat. Right after we left the dock we did see a couple of dolphins. I have marked the dolphin on the picture. Boy do I wish I would have brought my other camera with me. I would have liked the extra zoom power. Last night we went over to Aunt Ruth's and played Phase 10, which is a cross between gin rummy and I am not sure what other game. I can definitely say that it is a game that most of the Whiston (my family) clan plays. Let me tell you there is no mercy when you play with a Whiston.

 

Take a look at the houses. The houses are huge and with tons of windows. I have no clue how much they cost. I would not mind the house, but I sure would hate the mortgage bills. One house even has a statue of Michael Jordan on their back porch. I did not get a picture of the statue for everyone.

Well I better finish packing. We are heading to Tampa today to go back to the airport. I am enjoying the sunny weather instead of the rain that we left back home. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Thanks for checking in on me.

Well, I am still alive

Again I must apologize for appearing to have fallen off the face of the earth. Things have been really busy at work and with family. Several of my dearest friends were blindsided last week with the closing of one of the Scrapbook Garden Stores last week. I am sure that people may understand the need for closing the store, but the way my friends were treated really stinks and I don't understand how anyone that runs a "family" business could treat people that way. I am positive that better things are out there for everyone from the East store and I want them to know that I will help in anyway possible. I have never been more sure of my decision to leave the store as I have been the last week or so. I am positive that everyone will find better jobs and feel extremely appreciated wherever they end up now. I am glad that I had the chance to work with everyone and I am very thankful for the friendships that I have made while working with them, and that will never be taken away from me.



I have posted one page halloween from last year. We went to Night of the Living Zoo. Wow was that place crowded. I wish we would have gotten to see some of the animals and I know that our godson would have liked that better. Both of the boys had a great time and we had fun hanging out with their mom and dad. Sorry about the glare on the photos.

I promise to get better about updating posts. I am hoping that things will slow down so that I can get some pages done. I will be out of town next week and hopefully I will get to visit some stores while I am gone and maybe even get to do some small projects. I am ready for some rest and relaxation.

Winter Wonderland

Well, I am sorry that I seem to have fallen off the face of the earth. Really, I have been enjoying some down time and doing some reading. I have joined a book club and we meet every other month and the book we are reading is Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I really enjoyed the book and have already started book 2 in her series of 4. Well here is a layout that originally started as a two page spread, but when it came down to it I only had one picture. I used this page and gave the other page two a friend. I hope everyone is having a great week. I will be sure to update again this weekend with more projects from this weekend. I am hoping to spend some time in the craft room. Have a great Friday.

Bella Cards

 

 

Well, as promised, here are a couple of cards that I started last night and took the time to finish tonight. The first one is a birthday card for my best friend. I love the birthday or party themed bellas. I used twinkling H2O's and my new nestabilities on both cards. The second card is using another bella stamp that I borrowed or a friend stamped a few of them for me while I was scrapbooking one friday night. On this card I also used flocking by doodlebug and the scalloped rectangle nestabilities. I really like these products and will be using them more in the future. Thanks for checking in on me. I am ready for Friday. I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and weekend to follow.

Wow

Wow is all I have to say for this week. Last night was my last class at Scrapbook Garden. It is amazing how I really do feel good about my decision and I feel like a ton of bricks have been lifted off of my shoulders. Tonight I worked out after work and when I called home to tell my hubby that I was on my way, he told me that he was starting dinner. Can life get any better? I really enjoyed walking into the house with dinner waiting on me. (boy am I spoiled) I hope he keeps this up even though I am not working a second job anymore. LOL! I have spent a little bit of time in my scrapbook room this evening working on some cards and boy does that feel good. I promise I will get a couple of them up tomorrow night. My next project is cleaning my craft room and get in gear catching up. I have to match my friend Toni's 50 pages since our Yoder crop. I am so jealous. I hope that you are all having a great week so far. Thanks for peeking in.

John Deere Fanatics

 

Chad and Zachary

Well here is a page that I just finished up using the Cricut Design Studio and the Stone Script font. I have been lazy about getting my desing studio back up and running since my computer crashed a couple of months ago. I can't believe that I have not done this sooner. I really love the design studio and I have so many pages to just add the finishing touches with this tool. I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend. I spent the majority of the weekend with my best friend and her children (our godson). We had a great day today, we met at our usual time and place (the Zoo) and then went to lunch. It is great to see the boys grow up and to just have fun time with them. They were running the zoo and they even had me running (LOL)!

This Tuesday is my last class at Scrapbook Garden. Wow, that is going to be hard, but it is time to move on. I look forward to teaching this week and having at least one new instructor to sit in my class. This week will be busy, but then things should slow down. I hope that everyone has a great week. Thanks for peeking in.

Family Pages

 

 

As promised earlier today, here is a new layout that I have unearthed. In getting things cleaned up I am going through all the layouts that I have completed and I am putting them in the appropriate albums. I apologize for the flashback on the pictures. I still have not figured out the best way to photograph the layouts. The pictures were taken at my Uncle's wedding in 2006. Wow, we had a wonderful time. I used Bazzil cardstock, the silver specialty paper is by Magenta. The embellishments were from making memories, prima marketing, and 7 gypsies. I did put a little bit of stickles on the flowers. Thank you for peeking in. Have a great Friday! :)

Thursday

Okay I know that I have been slacking again. I promise that I will get some new pics posted tonight. I have been really interested in the Olympics so my blogging has suffered this week. I only have one more class to teach next week, so I should have more time to scrap for myself. I am enjoying it when I take the time to do it and I realize now how much I have missed working on things for myself. Thank you for checking in and I promise I will post again tonight with at least one layout done.

Yoder Retreat

One of the bedrooms for the retreat. I love the quilts!!!

Our Fun Filled Group!

Mary creating perfection!

Toni talking with her hands and telling stories.

Well, I am ready for Friday! This week seems to have gone on forever. I am working tomorrow night and doing my last Friday Night crop at store. I really can't believe that I am down to just two more classes or events at the store before I am finished. Wow what a journey. Enough about that.

I just thought that I would share a couple of pictures from our Yoder Retreat. Wow what a wonderful day and what fun. I don't think that I have laughed quite that much and also gotten so many pages done in such a long time. I can't wait until next time. Let me tell you that Janet was a wonderful hostess and really does a wonderful job with the retreat. I could just go there and hang out and do nothing.

Sedgwick County Fair

My husband goes to the Sedgwick County Fair for work and most years I will tag along or join him later. Well, now that our Godson is old enough to enjoy the time instead of just sitting in a stroller we have started taking him out to the fair. It is a blast since he is so into cows and anything john deere. Wonder where that started? Could it be that his Godfather sells John Deere. Here is a picture of the two of them after the carousel. Zachary has such a sweet little smile. I have also included a picture of Zachary with the funnel cake. How can you go to the fair and not have a funnel cake? Have a great Friday.

Weekend Retreat

Hello! I know that it has been a while since I have written, but I wanted to update you on my scrapbooking weekend retreat. I can't believe how much I got done. I actually got 20 pages done. That is the most that I have done in one day in a really long time. We had an absolute blast and are looking forward to doing it again soon. There were 5 of us that went and I have not laughed that much in forever. I know that we all had our cameras with us and I will post pictures soon. I need to share my pictures with everyone else and see what the others have. Well enough about my weekend retreat for now. I have been pretty busy the past couple of weeks and made a tough decision to quit teaching at the local scrapbook store. I have been working there for a long time and it will be hard to leave, but my full time job is keeping me very busy and things are not slowing down there.

Here is one of my favorite layouts from this past weekend. This is somewhat outside the box for me, but I love it. I hope that everyone is having a great week. Thank you for stopping in.

Organization

Oh my word. I never realized how much paper I had. I have been trying to get organized for 13 hours of cropping and I want to make the best use of my time. So to help get ready to go and crop and feel like I am getting something accomplished, I have been cleaning and organizing my scrapbook room. I am having issues organizing my patterned paper. How do you organize your paper? I would love to know. My goal is to use as much of my current paper supply and try to get through that before I buy a ton more. I promise to update with some pictures later in the week. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Travel Word Album

I hope that everyone had a good Monday. Boy I had a really hard time getting out of bed today. I was just hoping for another day to the weekend. Well, here is a class that I am teaching at Scrapbook Garden this month and also in August. It is using Bo Bunny papers and embellishments. I really like this project. Everytime I do one of these word albums I keep thinking of other things that I could add to them. These albums make great gifts. I can't wait to make the one that says Beach. I hope that everyone has a great week. I am going to be getting things ready for 13 solid hours of cropping. I can't wait. I am hoping that I will get alot done.

Bella Card

 

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend. I got a chance to scrapbook yesterday and actually got 5 pages done. I have not had a chance to take pictures of any of those layouts but I did make a birthday card for a gal at work. She was on vacation when her birthday so I had a little bit of time to make her card. I am never sure what to make for someone at work, but I remembered that some crazy person gave me this bella stamp. I just love it and it is perfect for my co-worker. I used white cardstock for the actual card, making memories blue paper with the cuttlebug swiss dots folder and a scrap of patterned paper. I colored the bella with watercolor pencils and the dove blender. I hope everyone has a great week and just remember that it is only a four day work week. Thanks for stopping by.

Slacker

I know I am a total slacker. I plan to do some updating on my blog this week. I have gotten a few pages done recently and I am working on a Travel word class that I will be teaching at Scrapbook Garden next month. Please check in later in the week for more updates. I promise not to be such a slacker in the future. Thanks for checking in.

90 Years Old

Well, it has been forever since I have last written. I am sorry that it has been so long. I have spent the better part of May out of town. I went out of town for my full time job and then went to St. Louis to visit family. My grandfather turned 90 last Friday. Most of the family was able to get together to celebrate. I enjoyed the time with my real dad, grandfather, and the rest of the family that was able to get together.

My grandfather is one very special man. His mind is so sharp and he tells such wonderful stories. On Thursday evening his church and the seminary that he used to teach at threw him a birthday party. They really spent quite a bit of time planning the party and it was wonderful that we were able to join the fun. There were about 40 people in attendance and it was really neat to see how he has touched so many people's lives over the years.

Thanks for peeking in. I did get a little bit of scrapbooking in while I was gone and I will post some of those pictures later this week as well as a class that I am teaching later this month at Scrapbook Garden East. Have a great rest of the week.

Father's Day Acrylic Album

I know that I have been talking about my upcoming classes and I have finally finished the sample for the Father's Day Acrylic Class. I have included a slideshow of the pages, I apologize for the quality of the photos. It is very difficult to take pictures of an acrylic album. This is the second acrylic album that I have done and they are really fun. This one is in the shape of a house. The paper is 7 gypsies, the stickers are SRM, the chipboard brackets are bazzill, and the ric rac is also bazzill. I can't remember the brand of the other ribbons. I have used pictures of my father in law. He is truly a wonderful man.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week. Thank you for stopping in.

New Pages

 

 

I got a chance to scrapbook last Friday and I did get quite a bit done. I completed this layout of Easter 2007. I am still really far behind, but I have been skipping around to what looks like fun or to what I feel like working on. I am trying to squeeze some of my pages in while still working on projects for Scrapbook Garden and other people. I will post pictures of a Father's Day Acrylic Album that I will be teaching next month. I am looking forward to that class. Thank you for peeking in.

Friendship

You never know who you will meet in life and what they will come to mean to you until something happens. On April 9th I received a phone call from one of my best friends telling me that her husband had a heart attack. I could not believe it. I did not know what to say or do. I kept in touch with her throughout the day to find out that he had another heart attack and had flatlined twice. I have never been so scared in my life. I did not know what to say to Toni. I just knew that I wanted to be there for her and the kids. Toni and Mike are very special people and I could not understand why this was happening to them of all people. I know that God was with Mike and wants him with his family and friends. It is truly a miracle that he is still with us today. He did get to come home over the weekend, but he still has a long road to complete recovery along with some lifestyle changes that everyone will have to learn. For everyone that has been praying for our friends please continue those prayers and thank you so much. We are so very happy that Mike is home where he belongs and on the road to recovery.

I am so glad that Toni and Mike have become such wonderful friends. We love them just like family.

Get Scrappy

 

 

A couple of weeks ago I spent Friday and Saturday at Get Scrappy. This was a fundraiser crop for the YWCA Crisis Center. The whole thing ended up raising over $14,000 for the crisis center. I had a lot of fun and ended up getting a few pages done in the process. This is just one of the layouts that I did get done that weekend. I know that it says 2006, but I am still working on 2005 pages as well. I am going to srapbook this Friday and I hope to get more pages done this weekend. I apologize for the photos, but I have not gotten anything to put the pages against so that they don't bend. I will get better. Thank you for peeking in. Have a great week.